


Without Warning

by JangJaeYul



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Football | Soccer, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Romance, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-22 20:12:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12489912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JangJaeYul/pseuds/JangJaeYul
Summary: It's fifteen minutes to kick-off and where the hell is Minseok?Luhan goes looking for his missing teammate and finds more than he expected.





	1. Chapter 1

So they’ve finally made it to the semifinals for the first time in three years. This could be it - tonight could seal their shot at the cup. Everyone’s on edge, it’s fifteen minutes to kick-off, and _where the hell is Minseok?_

Suho’s already spitting tacks at Chanyeol for accidentally smacking Baekhyun in the face during warm-up, and Luhan decides not to test his frayed nerves by pointing out that one of their strikers has gone missing; instead, he sneaks off into the locker room to search Minseok out himself.

Luhan pushes the door open and lets the hydraulic hinge catch it so that it closes soundlessly behind him as he peers into the corners of the room. He’s just opened his mouth to call out when he hears a noise. He stops, strains his ears, and there it is again: from the direction of the toilets, a sniff.

Maybe Baekhyun wasn’t the only one on the receiving end of Chanyeol’s windmill arms during warm-up; perhaps Minseok has a bleeding nose. Luhan sidles into the washroom to see if he’s okay.

He expects to see Minseok standing by the counter, perhaps pinching his nose into the sink or pulling paper towels to mop up the blood, but he’s not there. One stall door is closed, and now that he’s on this side of the lockers Luhan can hear a whispered litany coming from behind it.

“ _Shit, shit, fuck, what the fuck do I do, oh my god no no no-_ ”

“Minseok?”

Instant silence. The room is so still you could hear a pin drop. Luhan is about ninety-seven percent positive that Minseok is holding his breath.

After a long moment the lock squeaks open, and Minseok pulls the door ajar.

“Luhan?”

His one visible eye is wide and shining with tears.

“Are you okay?” Luhan wants to push the door open to check that he’s alright, but Minseok looks terrified and so Luhan keeps a careful three feet of space between them.

Minseok’s cheek trembles, and a small handful of tears shiver off his eyelashes.

“N- no.”

“What’s wrong? Do you need me to get someone? A medic? Suho?”

“No!” Minseok yanks the door a foot open, then catches himself and slams it shut again. His head falls forward and hits the wood with a dull thunk.

“Minseok-”

“I-”

There’s a moment of silence. Minseok sniffs again, clears his throat, and slowly opens the door.

“I got my period.”

“You- huh?”

Luhan’s brain takes a second to compute this. At first he thinks Minseok means some bullshit man-flu kind of thing and he’s about to tell him to pull himself together, but then he sees the dried blood on Minseok’s thighs, the skin there red as if Minseok has been scrubbing at it, the dark stain on his green shorts-

In the back of Luhan’s mind, it registers that Minseok always changes in the toilets after a game. In the year Minseok has been on the team, Luhan’s never seen him naked - not even shirtless. Minseok keeps a careful bubble around his body, and now Luhan realises why.

“Oh. _Shit_.”

“I haven’t had it in almost two years,” Minseok whispers. “I thought I was done, I thought the T took care of all of that, I didn’t know it could come back-” he presses a fist over his mouth. Luhan sees the storm he’s holding in. He realises it’s on him to calm it.

“Hey.” He reaches out and clasps Minseok’s shoulder. “We can fix this, okay? Tell me what you need.”

Minseok makes a face at him like the situation is far more desperate than Luhan can possibly comprehend. “A tampon. A pad. Some clean underwear. A new kit. Luhan, I- this is a team of cis dudes, no-one’s gonna have-”

“I have a spare pair of shorts,” Luhan says. “And I’m pretty sure I’ve got a fresh pair of underwear - if not, I know Sehun does, because he was throwing them at Kyungsoo’s head earlier. I just need to find you a tampon and a pad.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. We’ve still got nine minutes.”

He gives Minseok a smile he hopes is encouraging and jogs back out to the pitch.

He runs an eye over the team. _Nope._ None of them are going to be any help. Suho is still stress-yelling at Chanyeol, though, and no-one seems to have noticed Minseok’s or Luhan’s absence, so he figures he’s at least got a few minutes to find a solution before anyone realises they’re two players down.

Turning to look up at the crowd, he has an idea. With a glance towards the rest of the team to make sure no-one’s watching him, he makes a jump for it and hoists himself up over the railings and into the stands. Two rows back are a pair of young women, who are watching him with amusement and, Luhan notes, no small amount of awe. They look a little bit starstruck.

Luhan reminds himself that he has more important shit to do than stroke his own ego.

“Ladies,” he croons, propping one foot up on the seat in front of them and summoning a smile that he hopes looks reasonably self-deprecating. “I’m hoping you might be able to help me out with something.”

“Oh my god,” one of them laughs. “Okay?”

“You see, I’ve lost a bet,” Luhan says. “And I have a rather embarrassing little treasure hunt to do as a result. I was wondering whether you might like to assist me.”

The girls’ only answer is a delirious giggle, but Luhan figures that’s an affirmative sort of response, so he presses on.

“I need a tampon.”

The giggles ratchet up a full three notches. One of the girls is now covering her face with both hands, and the other one is smothering her grin in the back of her wrist.

“And a pad,” Luhan adds. “Do you think you can help me?”

The girls’ voices seem to have totally disappeared into hysterical laughter, but one of them nods and unzips the purse on her lap.

“You’re an absolute star,” Luhan beams as she shoves two tampons and a pad at him. “Thank you, darling. I owe you one.”

She buries her face in her hands again, which Luhan takes to mean _no problem, any time, good luck in the game!_ He vaults the railing and drops back down to the ground. Six minutes to go.

“Minseok!” Luhan’s cleats echo off the concrete as he clatters back into the washroom, sanitary items in one hand and underwear in the other. “Here you go.”

“Oh my god.” Minseok’s jaw drops as he opens the stall door. “You actually did it. Luhan, you’re incredible-”

“Don’t worry about it.” Luhan waves him off. “You… do what you need to do with that stuff. I’m just gonna grab my other shorts for you.”

By the time Luhan has extracted the spare kit from his bag, Minseok is washing his hands at the sink. He turns around when Luhan appears in the mirror behind him, his smile wide and grateful.

Luhan takes a moment to appreciate how damn good Minseok looks in _his_ underwear, and then another to remind himself that this is five hundred percent not the time for that kind of realisation.

He hands the shorts to Minseok, who slips them on and pulls the drawstring tight to hold them up around his slim hips.

“Okay. I’m good.”

As Minseok is shoving his own wadded up shorts and underpants into his bag, the locker room door slams open and Tao whirls in.

“ _There_ you two are! What the hell are you doing?”

“Just had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction,” Luhan says. “It’s fine, we’re good now.”

“You’d better be! Come on, Coach is yelling at _everyone_.”

“We’ll be out in ten seconds,” Luhan assures him.

The door hisses shut behind Tao, and Luhan turns to Minseok.

“You ready to go?”

“Yeah.” Minseok beams up at him. “Luhan - thank you.”

“Hey.” Luhan pulls him into a hug. “Don’t sweat it, dude.” He steps back and claps a hand on Minseok’s shoulder. “Let’s go kick some ass, yeah?”

Minseok grins. “Hell yeah.”

He takes Luhan’s hand, and together they run out onto the pitch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is really important to me, and I didn't realise as I was writing it just how hard it would be to set it free into the world. Thank you for reading it.
> 
> \- JJY


	2. Chapter 2

It’s twenty minutes to last call and the bar is almost empty. The team all arrived together after practise, but now it’s well after one in the morning and it’s just Minseok, Luhan, and a couple of the other Chinese guys. Luhan knows he should probably go home, but somehow he can’t bring himself to leave.

Sure, he’s a couple of beers down, but Luhan thinks he’s more drunk on the sound of Minseok’s voice than anything else.

Minseok has been nursing one rum and coke all evening. At this point it’s about fifty percent melted ice, but Minseok is still sipping happily at it between bursts of excited chatter, his hands waving wildly to emphasise each point. Luhan, for his part, is leaning on one hand, watching Minseok talk, watching Minseok drink, watching Minseok exist in the beautiful space next to him. He’s not too sure what his face is doing at the moment, but he hopes his smile just looks tipsy rather than sappy.

Over the last few weeks, the two of them have grown closer. Since that semifinal game (which they won) and the final (which they lost), Luhan has found himself gravitating towards Minseok, stealing odd moments at practise to share a comment or a joke or even just a look - Luhan will glance down the pitch and find Minseok looking back at him, and they’ll share a grin for the briefest of seconds before Suho calls the next drill.

In the locker room, Luhan finds himself protecting Minseok’s space without even realising it. When Minseok slips off to the toilets to change, Luhan talks louder to draw attention away from his absence. When Sehun snaps the waistband of Minseok’s shorts, Luhan whips a towel at him before Minseok even has a chance to crunch forward. He makes sure to fend off any contact that might expose Minseok or force him to out himself. He keeps a tampon tucked away in the inside pocket of his gear bag in case of an emergency.

Minseok’s very good at looking after himself, though. Of course he is - he managed to go a whole year without coming out to anyone, and probably could have gone longer if not for that surprise period. He weaves easily through a team of what Luhan has learned are called “cis men” without giving any hint that he is different. On the field he is a perfect part of the team, with lightning feet and a keen eye for the goal. He’s won them more than a few games with the knack he has for predicting holes in the defense. Watching him play sometimes makes it hard for Luhan to concentrate on his own footwork.

Right now it’s very difficult to concentrate on _anything_ with that laughter in Minseok’s eyes, the tiny purse of his lips around his straw, the tap of his hand against the bar to illustrate whatever point he’s making.

“What do you think?” he asks as he straightens up and licks the soda off his lips.

What _does_ Luhan think? He hasn’t been paying attention, too lost in the glow of Minseok’s face, the pink flush across his cheeks and the sparkle in his eyes.

Luhan thinks Minseok is very handsome.

Luhan thinks they might be more than friends.

Luhan thinks maybe he should let Minseok in on that realisation.

He shifts in his seat and leans forward, closing his eyes as he sways across the space between their seats to plant a kiss on Minseok’s lips.

Minseok freezes, then jerks back. Luhan tries to chase him, leaning so far forward he almost falls out of his seat, but Minseok is recoiling, and after a moment Luhan realises maybe that’s not a good sign.

He opens his eyes.

Minseok is staring at him, his fingers on his lips like he can’t quite believe Luhan’s mouth was just there. He looks horrified. He looks heartbroken.

It occurs to Luhan that he might have just fucked everything up.

“No,” Minseok whispers. “Oh god, no.”

In the next second he’s slipping out of his seat and running for the door.

“ _Shit._ ” Luhan jumps up and shoots a glance down the bar, but Tao and Kris are still deep in conversation and apparently haven’t noticed a thing. Luhan hesitates only a moment - at this time of night they’re his best shot at a ride home, and Minseok’s too - before deciding he probably deserves to spring for a taxi if he’s screwed things up this momentously. He turns on his heel and dashes out of the bar after Minseok.

“Min!”

The street is deserted, so it’s easy to spot Minseok, already half a block away and sprinting for his life.

“Oh shit, _Minseok! Wait!_ ”

Luhan tears after him, but Minseok isn’t a striker for nothing - he’s small and fast, and it takes Luhan a whole block to catch up with him.

“Minseok-” Luhan grabs him by the wrist, and while Minseok does yank it away from him he also stops, allowing Luhan to double over and catch his breath for a second.

When he straightens up, Minseok is standing a careful six feet away, his arms wrapped protectively around himself, shoulders hunched, lips pinched shut.

“Minseok, I’m sorry,” Luhan begins, “I’m really sorry, I shouldn’t have done that, I didn’t realise, I just- I really like you, and I thought-”

“I don’t want you to like me!” Minseok shouts at him.

It’s about as angry as Luhan expected, but there’s also an undercurrent of hurt there that aches at him. “I-”

“I knew this would happen!” Minseok continues. “I should have kept it to myself, I shouldn’t have told you-”

“No, Minseok, I promise, it’s not like that-”

“ _I don’t want you to like me just because you think I’m a girl!_ ”

Oh. Right. Of course.

And that’s a fair assumption for Minseok to make, Luhan figures. It’s wrong, but it’s not unreasonable.

“Minseok,” he says carefully, “if I thought you were a girl, I wouldn’t be into you.”

Minseok is still glaring at him, so Luhan elaborates.

“I’m gay.” That doesn’t quite take the suspicion out of Minseok’s eyes. “Minseok, I am so, so gay. Seriously. If I were any gayer I’d be Freddie Mercury.”

A little smile twitches into the corner of Minseok’s mouth at that. “Freddie Mercury was bisexual.”

“Really? Fuck, okay, Elton John, Neil Patrick Harris, whatever, point is: I’m not into girls. I’m into guys. I’m into you. And like. If that’s not a thing you feel too then that’s fine and I can try forget about it, but I _promise_ you it’s not because I think you’re a girl.”

Minseok just stares at him impassively, not a hint of emotion on his face. He doesn’t look angry anymore, but he doesn’t exactly look happy either.

“So…” Luhan shifts his weight, trying to figure the best way to get out of this conversation with friendship intact. “I should probably forget it, huh?”

Minseok pulls a frustrated expression. “No, I- Christ. Can I have a minute to think about it? You can’t blindside me like that and expect a yes or no right away.”

“Oh- yeah, yeah, absolutely.” Luhan nods. That’s a better answer than he was expecting, at any rate. “Uh, do you- do you wanna walk back, or something? If we hurry we might still be able to catch a ride with Kris.”

Minseok purses his lips. “I’m happy catching the night bus.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“We can go for a walk though, if you want. Just. Not back to the bar.”

 _Not back to the team_ , Luhan hears. “Yeah, sure. Lead the way.”

He falls into step beside Minseok, who has his hands shoved in his pockets, shoulders still protectively hunched around his ears. They walk in silence for about half a block, their footsteps on the pavement the only sound between them.

“Tell me something,” Minseok says, just as Luhan is beginning to feel the cold and wondering whether he should offer his jacket to Minseok, “how long have you been… thinking about me like this?”

“Uh.” Luhan suddenly isn’t sure. The lightning bolt realisation happened just now in the bar, obviously, but it’s not like that’s the first time he’s looked at Minseok and wondered whether his lips taste as soft as they look.

“Cause you’ve started paying a lot of attention to me since the semifinals,” Minseok continues, “and I find it very hard to believe it has nothing to do with-”

“Oh my god, no,” Luhan hurries to assure him. “I mean, yes, since then, I guess, but not because- I mean, it was- it’s just that- I’d never really noticed you before? I mean, I mean- I’d noticed you, obviously, but that was the first time I really… really _looked_ at you. You know?”

“Uh huh?” Minseok sounds unconvinced. “And when you looked, what did you see?”

Luhan shrugs, hands twisting together in the pocket of his hoodie. “A cute guy that I thought maybe I’d like to spend more time with?”

Minseok squints at him. “So, you saw a trans dude standing in the bathroom, covered in blood and freaking out about being outed to his entire team, and you were like, ‘nice’. Am I getting that right?”

Embarrassment rises hot through Luhan’s cheeks. “No. Dude, no, I- oh god. It was just the first time I’d considered you separate from the rest of the team. Like, I started to see you as a person I could get to know. And I guess, I guess I felt close to you. It meant a lot to me that you trusted me with… y’know, that info.”

“I didn’t really have a choice, did I?”

“No.” Luhan can feel the wry little twist of his own mouth. “I guess not. But you know. It was like I saw you as more than just a teammate for the first time. And after that I kind of… just started liking you more and more.”

Minseok makes a noise that might be considering, might be disbelieving.

“Okay,” he says, “I want you to name three things you like about me - and they gotta be things that have nothing to do with my body.”

“Uh-” Luhan blinks. All his brain can conjure up, suddenly, is _your muscular arms, your apple cheeks, and god, dat ass_. “Jeez, I dunno.”

Minseok gives him a withering look.

“Okay.” Luhan holds up a hand to try and fend off that glare. “I like the way you can spot a hole in a team’s defense before it even opens up. You’ve got a real eye for that kind of thing, and I’m kind of in awe if I’m being honest.” He takes a deep breath, keeps talking despite the little noise of surprise Minseok makes. “I like your smile. Is that to do with your body? Whatever, I like the way you smile with your whole face, that smile where I can see your gums and your eyes are almost shut. I like the baozi faces you make at practise behind Coach’s back. I like that you’re the only person who can make Kyungsoo laugh until he cries. I like that you _actually_ hit Baekhyun when he dared you to put that spider in Tao’s pants. I like-”

“Alright, you can stop.” Minseok is biting his lip now, like he’s trying to hold back one of those full-face smiles. “I believe you.”

“Yeah?” Luhan can’t help studying Minseok’s expression for any hint that he might have a chance here.

“Yeah.” Minseok nods, then turns and starts walking backwards in front of Luhan so he can eyeball him. “My next question is, why should _I_ like _you_?”

Luhan’s face falls. “Oh man. Fuck. Hold on, lemme think.”

Minseok laughs. “You mean you haven’t got a dozen of your best qualities ready to list off the top of your head?”

Luhan pulls a face. “Come on, dude. Shit, uh… okay, I make a really good tomato stir fry. I’m a good cook, my fridge is always full of leftovers and they’re all diet plan compliant. And, uh… Sehun says I ‘run hot,’ so if you’re ever cold, you can just hug me and I’ll warm you up. Um. Fuck. I dunno, man, I’m not good at this. Can you think of anything?”

“Oh yes,” Minseok is grinning at him now, “plenty. I mostly just wanted to see if you were gonna include the fact that you’ve been white knighting for me in the locker room for the past few weeks.”

“I… huh?”

“It’s adorable that you want to protect me,” Minseok says, still walking backwards and smirking up at Luhan. “Completely unnecessary - but adorable.”

“… Oh.”

“I can take care of myself, you know.”

“I know, I know-”

“But it means a lot to me that you want to help.”

Minseok suddenly stops walking, and Luhan almost trips over trying not to run into him. Minseok catches him with a hand on his shoulder and holds him at a careful distance.

“You’ve got a good heart, Luhan.”

Luhan doesn’t know what to say other than ask if he can give it to Minseok, so he keeps his mouth shut.

“I trust you,” Minseok murmurs, almost as if he’s convincing himself. “I trust you.”

When Luhan just looks at him uncertainly, Minseok lifts a careful hand and places it on Luhan’s cheek.

“I don’t think you’re gonna hurt me.”

Luhan shakes his head. The idea of hurting Minseok, of seeing that tear-stained face and trembling lip on his own conscience, is abhorrent to him.

Minseok cups Luhan’s other cheek to hold his head still, then rises onto his tiptoes and very slowly, very gently, kisses him.

_Oh._

Luhan’s entire body thrills to that touch. Every cell demands he throw his arms around Minseok and kiss him back, but he doesn’t want to push him too hard. Instead he lifts his hands to hold Minseok’s elbows, just firmly enough to tell him he wants him close, not so tight that Minseok can’t pull away if he wants to. He holds his breath and rests into the gentle sweetness of Minseok’s proximity.

Minseok pulls back after a handful of seconds, and then there’s something hopeful in his expression as his eyes flick back and forth between Luhan’s.

“I like that,” he whispers.

Luhan nods, still hardly daring to breathe. Minseok grins and draws him back in, holding Luhan’s face between his hands as he kisses him again.

When Minseok lets go and steps back, Luhan misses him already. A moment later, Minseok’s hand is sliding into his, shyly pressing their palms together as Luhan’s heart moves in his chest.

“Shall we go wait for the bus?”

“I can pay for a taxi,” Luhan offers.

Minseok tilts his head to the side. “But then I’ll have to say goodnight to you sooner.”

Luhan can’t help the giddy smile he can feel creasing into his cheeks. “Okay. Let’s catch the bus.”

He squeezes Minseok’s hand, and together they turn to head for the bus stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's gonna be one more chapter after this one.


	3. Chapter 3

It’s a little after nine in the evening. They’ve just finished dinner, and Minseok is washing the dishes while Luhan tetrises the leftovers into his fridge. Minseok’s phone is blaring bright pop music from the counter, and Luhan finds himself entirely too enamoured with the way Minseok’s butt wiggles to the beat.

He’s savouring every moment, honestly, because soon the dishes will be clean and the drinks will be finished and then the evening will be over. Luhan doesn’t know if Minseok is planning to stay the night; the offer is always open, and Minseok knows that, but he’s never taken Luhan up on it before and Luhan doesn’t entirely expect him to tonight.

With that deadline in mind, Luhan waits until Minseok turns the water off and wipes his hands on the dishtowel, then darts in to wrap his arms around his waist from behind. Minseok jumps, but instead of flinching away he turns his head to grin up at Luhan.

“Hello.”

“Hello.” Luhan pecks a kiss to Minseok’s lips, then spins him around and grabs him by the hips to begin moving him to the beat.

He can’t help but feel a little bad about how much he likes the curve of Minseok’s hips, because he knows it’s the one part of himself Minseok thinks is still too feminine. Minseok doesn’t seem to mind the possessive caress of Luhan’s hands though, just sways into his touch with a lazy smile.

“Look at you, cute thing,” Luhan says.

“ _Nooo._ ” Minseok buries his embarrassment in Luhan’s shoulder.

“Yesss.”

Minseok pulls back and wrinkles his nose at him, so Luhan pecks a kiss at it. That makes Minseok giggle, and Luhan ducks his head to kiss the laugh out of his mouth. When he straightens up, Minseok rises up onto his tiptoes, throws his arms around Luhan’s neck, and kisses him back.

Luhan leans into the kiss, savours it - this is as far as Minseok ever goes, and Luhan only gets one chance at it. Two of these kisses is good fortune, three is pushing his luck - but now they’re kissing a fourth time, and a fifth, and Minseok is still not pushing Luhan away, still not stepping back and wiping his mouth with a bashful little smile. Instead he’s sliding his hand into Luhan’s hair and pressing closer, kissing deeper, swaying on his tiptoes as Luhan wraps one arm around his waist.

This time when they part for air Minseok doesn’t step away or wriggle out of Luhan’s arms, just rests his forehead against Luhan’s nose and looks down at his feet. There’s a moment where Luhan holds himself carefully still, trying not to push Minseok one way or the other. Then Minseok takes a breath, lifts his head, and winds his fingers into Luhan’s hair to pull him down and kiss him again.

Luhan will never get sick of Minseok’s lips, the sweet warmth of them, the way they drag so beautifully against his. He has a sudden flash of imagining Minseok’s mouth other places, kissing, licking, sucking- Luhan loses all his breath in a flush of heat as Minseok nibbles at his bottom lip.

He has to break away to breathe, and when he looks at Minseok he can see a conflict in his eyes. There’s the heat driving his kisses, the dusting of pink across his cheeks, but it’s cut with a hesitance that Luhan recognises.

“Hey,” he whispers, lifting a hand to brush a thumb across that blush. “Nothing you don’t want.”

Minseok just blinks at him for a moment, indecisive. Then he lets his eyes flutter closed and presses another soft kiss to Luhan’s lips.

“Can you- can you sit down?”

Luhan tilts his head to the side. Minseok indicates the couch.

“Just - sit there. And don’t move until I tell you.”

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.” Luhan settles himself in the middle of the couch and folds his hands in his lap.

Minseok just looks at him for a long minute as if making up his mind. Then he bites his lip, looks down, and grasps the collar of his T-shirt. He slides it over his head and gathers the fabric in front of his chest, a last barrier of safety between his skin and Luhan’s eyes as he looks up at Luhan, holds his gaze, swallows hard. Luhan can feel the pounding of his own heart in his throat.

Minseok takes a deep breath, closes his eyes, and lets his shirt fall to the floor.

The first thing Luhan sees is his stomach. Minseok is beyond toned - he’s always first in, last out of the gym in the morning, and it shows in the six pack that Luhan suddenly thinks is a crime to keep hidden under his uniform. His hands twitch with the urge to touch, to trace over the contours of the muscles and map the shape of Minseok’s skin.

He drags his gaze away with an effort, because those abs are not what Minseok is worried about him seeing.

When his eyes land on Minseok’s chest, he keeps his face carefully blank. Minseok is gauging his reaction, and it will only take one wrong twitch of an eyebrow to close him off and shove him back into his protective case.

Minseok’s pectorals are underscored with scars, running from about an inch out of centre right out to almost the side of his ribcage. His nipples are slightly uneven, slightly mismatched - one of them is a fraction larger, and neither is perfectly round. It takes Luhan a moment to absorb these details, and by the time he’s done they’ve already begun to fade into the bigger picture.

Luhan looks up at Minseok’s face, sees the apprehension there.

Minseok swallows, spreads his arms a little. “What do you think?”

In lieu of words, Luhan holds his hands out towards Minseok, beckons for him to step closer until he can take him by the hips and lean forward to kiss his stomach.

“I think you’re wonderful,” he whispers.

Minseok makes a little noise, muffled by the back of his hand.

Luhan kisses his stomach again, a little higher. “You’re perfect.”

“No,” Minseok says, leaning away, “no, don’t lie to me.”

“You’re perfect for _me_ ,” Luhan insists. “I wouldn’t want you any other way.”

When he looks up, Minseok has his mouth open like he wants to say something but can’t quite force the words out.

“You’re lovely,” Luhan says. He sits up, looking more closely at Minseok’s chest now that it’s within reach. “Can I-?”

Minseok shakes his head. “The- the nerves are all fucked up, it’s- just don’t touch my nipples. But the rest is okay.”

Luhan nods, takes a careful hand from Minseok’s hip and traces it up his stomach until he can run one gentle finger along the length of a scar. Minseok makes a noise at the back of his throat and his hand twitches towards Luhan’s head as he leans forward to follow that touch with his lips.

“ _Oh my god_ ,” Minseok breathes.

Luhan trails back along the scar to the centre of Minseok’s chest, then kisses a line directly up towards his collarbone, until he can no longer reach and has to hook a hand around the back of Minseok’s neck and pull him down to kiss.

“Is this as much as you want?” Luhan murmurs.

Minseok makes a questioning noise, so Luhan lets his hand glide back down his chest, over his stomach, to rest on his belt buckle.

“Oh.”

Minseok seems unable to breathe for a second, and Luhan isn’t sure whether it’s arousal or panic so he pulls away, detaches from Minseok’s lips and sits back on the couch to give him space.

“Just tell me what you want, and that’s as much as we’ll do.”

Minseok opens his mouth, closes it again, blinks rapidly for a moment, then nods.

“Y- yeah.”

“Yeah?”

“I-” Minseok closes his eyes and breathes out, a slow stream between his lips. He takes Luhan’s hand from his hip and brings it back to his belt buckle.

Luhan shuffles to the edge of his seat and pulls Minseok to stand in between his knees, then carefully undoes the buckle. He doesn’t need to look up to know that Minseok is watching him, nor does he need to touch him to feel his racing heart. He can hear the shallow rasp of Minseok’s breath as he pops the button of his jeans and slides the zipper down.

When he looks up, Minseok’s bottom lip is between his teeth, his hands hovering at his sides like he’s not sure what to do with them.

“You good?” Luhan checks.

Minseok nods. There’s a blush filtering through his cheeks, but he doesn’t look away, and Luhan maintains that eye contact as he runs a finger across the front of Minseok’s underwear through his open fly. Minseok’s next breath is a whimper, and he pushes the tiniest amount into Luhan’s touch.

“Should I take these off?” Luhan suggests, tugging at the front of Minseok’s jeans.

“Mhm.” Minseok nods. His hand is pressed to his mouth now, teeth opening around the knuckle of his thumb, and as Luhan carefully slides his jeans down over his ass he gasps and clamps his lips shut again.

“You gotta tell me if you like things, or if you don’t like them,” Luhan says. “I don’t want to do anything bad.”

Minseok opens his mouth enough to whisper, “This is okay.”

“Is it okay if I touch you?”

Minseok blushes a deep shade of red, but nods vigorously. That’s enthusiastic enough for Luhan, who slides a hand over the front of his underwear. He can’t really feel much - there’s no huge bulge beneath the fabric, obviously - but Minseok is now almost panting with anticipation, so Luhan runs his hand down to stroke his inner thigh. Minseok’s legs twitch, wanting to part, and Luhan shoves his jeans down his legs until Minseok can kick them the rest of the way off and step out of them. Now, standing there in just his underwear, he’s bashful again, the blush creeping down his throat and into his chest.

“Gorgeous,” Luhan whispers. “You look so good, Minseok.”

He ghosts a touch across Minseok’s inner thigh, then turns his hand over and cups him between his legs. Minseok whimpers, his hips twitching into Luhan’s palm.

Luhan runs his fingers lightly, so lightly, over the fabric. It’s already damp, soaking through to his touch. Minseok is biting his knuckle now, the edge of a whine in each breath, his hips rocking against Luhan’s hand.

“Oh, fuck, baby.” Luhan’s rock hard in his pants, his fingers are pressing more firmly against Minseok’s underwear, and fuck, he wants that barrier gone. “Min- can I, please can I-”

“ _Mhm_.” Minseok sounds as desperate as Luhan feels, and when Luhan’s hand runs back up the front of his underwear he gasps and gives a full-body twitch.

Luhan wastes no time in pulling Minseok’s briefs down, letting them drop to his ankles, Minseok stepping out of them and coming back to Luhan’s touch, to Luhan’s hand sliding between his legs again, skin on hot skin.

There’s a thatch of dark hair between where Luhan’s hand is and where he needs it to be, so he combs one finger between the tangled curls, working them apart bit by bit until on the next pass he crooks his finger and suddenly everything is smooth and slick and wet, and Minseok gives a gasp of surprise.

“Oh shit,” Luhan mutters. He’s so fucking turned on that his whole body is quivering, his finger is sliding easily between Minseok’s legs, and fuck, he could spend his life exploring the way Minseok trembles at his touch.

He runs his thumb forward, all the way to the front, and bang, there it is. Minseok twitches and opens his mouth in a little O as Luhan rolls his thumb over the little nub - not that it’s particularly little. Luhan pushes Minseok’s pubes out of the way to get a better look. 

_Wow._

Granted, he hasn’t seen this kind of equipment since high school, and he didn’t exactly get a very good look at it during awkward virginal missionary, but he’s pretty sure this part was _not_ this big. It’s practically the size of his thumb, round and thick, almost like a tiny penis save for the fact that there’s no hole at the end. It’s big enough for Luhan to take it between his thumb and forefinger and stroke it, which makes Minseok shudder and cry out, his eyes wide and mouth open as he stares down at Luhan’s hand.

“Good?” Luhan asks. Minseok nods, blinking hard as Luhan rubs his thumb over the end again. He’s beginning to shake now, and when Luhan flicks a fingertip sideways over the shaft he reaches forward and grabs Luhan’s shoulder to brace himself.

Luhan soaks in every little breath, every gasp, every shiver that runs through Minseok’s body. His thumb keeps rolling over the head while his fingers slide back, finding that wetness again, bending and stroking and then, with a little push, slipping inside.

“ _H---ah-_ ”

“Is that nice?”

Minseok nods, his eyebrows drawing together as Luhan flicks faster with his thumb, pushes deeper with his fingers. Minseok’s legs are beginning to shudder, jerking more and more violently with each flick of Luhan’s thumb, so Luhan focuses on that twisting, plucking, rubbing side to side until Minseok’s entire body gives one great twitch, then another, and he clenches hard around Luhan’s fingers, his eyes squeezed shut, brows furrowed, hand clutching at Luhan’s shoulder. Luhan keeps rubbing, stroking him through it until the twitches begin to slow and Minseok’s breathing calms a little.

He carefully removes his hand from between Minseok’s legs, takes him by the hips and holds him, gently stroking with both thumbs in the soft space just forward of the bone. He waits until Minseok opens his eyes and blinks down at him with a lazy smile.

“Mmm.”

“Mmm?” Luhan couldn’t hold back his smile if he tried.

“ _Mmm._ ”

Luhan laughs and leans forward to rest his forehead against Minseok’s stomach. “Mmmmm.”

Minseok’s legs shake a little as Luhan kisses his belly, so Luhan shuffles backwards on the couch and pulls Minseok down with him, shuffling them both around until they’re lying face-to-face, Luhan’s arm around Minseok to keep him from falling off.

“Did I do well?”

Minseok laughs. “What do you think?”

“Hmm. I think I did _alright_ …”

“If you’re just fishing for compliments, I’m not gonna give them to you.”

“But babe,” Luhan kisses the side of Minseok’s mouth, “that’s my kink.”

Minseok curls forward, almost headbutting Luhan in the nose as he laughs.

“I can’t believe you’re kinkshaming me,” Luhan says. “You’re killing my erection.”

“Oh, am I?” Minseok shifts in his arms just enough to press his hip into the front of Luhan’s pants. “I think you’re doing okay. Do you want me to take care of that for you?”

“Please,” Luhan groans, all teasing gone now that Minseok is reaching down and unzipping his pants. “ _Ohh, please_ , I’m so hard, so fucking hard for you, Minseok.”

“Yeah, you are.” Minseok’s voice is husky again, his mouth hot and open against Luhan’s as he reaches into his boxers and wraps a hand around his cock.

“Oh, _shhh-_ ” Luhan thrusts into Minseok’s hand, kisses him with a clumsy heat on his tongue, sucks Minseok’s bottom lip into his mouth and grazes his teeth over it as Minseok jerks him with quick, breathless pulls.

“Yeah- yeah, yeah, Minseok, like that-” Luhan fits his hand to the back of Minseok’s head, holds him in place, kisses him with every fibre of his being as Minseok twists his hand just right, and another half dozen of those perfect strokes has him shaking apart in Minseok’s arms, gasping for breath as Minseok kisses sweet fire into his lips.

“Shit,” he breathes, when his head has stopped spinning. “… I think we might be onto something good here.”

Minseok laughs and wriggles closer. “I think you’re right.”

Luhan looks down at Minseok, snuggled into his arms and beaming up at him. There’s that full-face smile, all crescented eyes and dark pink gums.

Minseok is so beautiful.

It occurs to him that perhaps Minseok wouldn’t like that word, so instead, as he brushes the hair off Minseok’s forehead, he whispers, “You are incredible.”

“Oh my god, _n-_ ”

“Don’t say no,” Luhan murmurs. “Let me appreciate you. Please?”

Minseok’s cheeks are flushed a brilliant pink now, his nose crinkled with embarrassment, but he doesn’t argue. Instead, when Luhan kisses the little crease between his eyebrows, he sighs, and then buries his face in Luhan’s neck, and then, so small Luhan almost thinks he imagines it - he smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops I still have more story to tell. It's not over yet!


End file.
